Custom Meta vs Smart Custom Fields

Head-to-head on the signals that matter, from the public WordPress.org data.

Custom Meta

by delete me please

Health D45

Smart Custom Fields

by Takashi Kitajima

Health A89

Active-install trajectory

Custom Meta Smart Custom Fields

Active installs, each indexed to 100 at the start of the window. A line above 100 is growing its install base, below 100 is shrinking.

Metric	Custom Meta	Smart Custom Fields
Active installs Modeled from the public "N+" band and recent downloads.	700–800	50K–60K ✓
Install trend Change in active installs across the charted window.	-13%	0% ✓
Overall health	D · 45	A · 89 ✓
Maintenance How recently the plugin was updated.	3/100	100/100 ✓
Rating quality Volume-adjusted review quality.	74/100	89/100 ✓
Support Share of forum threads marked resolved.	70/100	70/100
Rating (adjusted)	3.98★	4.53★ ✓
Reviews	1	20 ✓
Ranking optimization How well the listing is tuned to rank on wp.org.	32/100	95/100 ✓
Removal risk Maintenance signals that precede a wp.org closure. Not an official status.	High	Low ✓
Last updated	17.6y ago	1mo ago ✓
Downloads · 30d	92	5.8K ✓
Category	Admin & Utilities	Uncategorized

✓ marks the stronger plugin on each row. Rows where they're level show no marker.

Release activity

Custom Meta Smart Custom Fields

7-day average daily downloads. Downloads spike for about a week after each release as the install base re-downloads, so read this as release cadence, not growth.